Navjot Altaf

Navjot was born in 1949 in Meerut and moved to Mumbai in 1969. She graduated with a diploma from the Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1972. An accompolished painter, sculptor, writer, filmmaker and installation artist; she has travelled extensively across the world, empowering people through these mediums. Inspired by Marxist ideologies, she constantly pushed the boundaries of material and genre to express her social concerns. Both in their process of creation and in their subject, her sculptural work addresses issues of social injustice and religious violence in India through a unique feminine perspective. In the seventies, she was also associated with the Progressive Youth Movement.

Throughout her career, Navjot contextualises memory, history and culture, gender and sexuality through her own experiencies and addresses social, political and artistic issues. Through her work we see a sense of social commitment and a need to interrogate existing power structures and expose the injustice practiced against weaker sections of society.

“My work has re-tracked the familiar terrain of questioning various frameworks of social injustice and violence, transmuting my concerns to the intimate, often hidden private lives of women. They are sculptures that speak, that address the burning questions of the inequalities that exist in society, especially with relation to the female of the species.”

Her interaction and experimental works with tribal artists from Bastar, Madhya Pradesh lasted over two decades. She brings her experience to her craft, showing and travelling extensively and being exposed to contemporary art practices around the world.

Navjot lives and works in Mumbai.